What I've been up to...

Started some socks with this Pagewood Chugiak yarn that has been in my stash for a lonnnnng time. I think I've posted about this yarn before, a good project for it has alluded me for quite some time, but I finally settled with toe-up socks. Yeah, the coloring isn't the greatest thing in the world, but I need to make room in my stash for new purchases and I think for socks I'll be able to live with the pooling...
They'll be cozy at any rate...this yarn is great to knit with. :)

I sewed up this little cosmetics bag a few weeks ago:

The pattern is from I Love Patchwork (which is a lovely book by the way), and interestingly enough I chose a color scheme very similar to the author's. I'd like to try making this again, but larger. I was hoping to be able to use it for a knitting project bag, but even a small lace project is a bit too large for it.

Next up, my latest project. I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through sewing up this dress. So far I'm really happy with how it's going. I've even made myself re-sew bad seams (I'm usually waaay too impatient for that!).

I'm making the sleeveless version of this (so that's easier to wear a cardi over it) and omitting the buttons.

Finally, here's a photo from a walk I took several days ago:

Spring is definitely arriving! Everything is still pretty brown, but hey, the water is running again! Personally, I've already pulled out my collection of spring/summer shoes...and that's good enough for me! :)

Progress: Day 3-4

I had a great time kicking off the Olympics with Celeste on Friday. Though I didn't get a ton of knitting done that night, the pace certainly picked up the next day.

I watched quite a bit of Olympic coverage over the weekend, and my highlights were the Pairs Figure Skating last night and the Speed Skating Short Track 1500m race the night before with Apolo Ohno and J. R. Celski. Great race to watch.

Anyway, here we have the progress of three days of knitting (haven't knit yet today) on Solaris:

Back: Completed

Front piece (both fronts and the collar are in knit in one very long piece): About 8" down.

So far, I'm on track (in fact, I'm ahead of my self-imposed schedule).

I am definitely concerned about yarn quantities. If I don't have enough I will either have to make shorter sleeves or go over the craft store and try to match my dyelots with another skein. Eek.

wips

1. Miniature mittens...

I'm on a roll with these. It started last night. Funny story. I was cleaning my desk off and managed to clear off exactly 0% of the clutter when I got distracted by some Knit Picks Palette leftovers I found buried under the rubbish. I then decided I needed to make some mini mittens. Got out my stash bins because the color of Palette I really wanted wasn't out and promptly added several more skeins to my already overflowing desk. I then sat down and knit a few mittens. My desk remains in shambles.

2. Purple:

Malabrigo worsted. Cowl in seed stitch. Five button holes. No buttons. Yet.

3. Big mittens:

My current pride and joy. Unfortunately, they'll be too short for the recipient, so eventually I must rip the top of the pictured mitt and re-knit. I've knit the cuff of the second mitten and am hoping to finish these by December 1st. We shall see. A slight problem is that I seem to be running out of yarn. I really really really hope that I don't.

4. Baby sweater knit in...acrylic. I really wanted to use wool, but I knew that machine washable and dryable (dryable not a word, I know) had to take top priority for this gift. At least it's soft?

WIPS

I was on an eight hour (round) road trip this past Saturday, so I got a lot of knitting done. ;)

1. Francis:

I finally decided on knitting this cowl neck sweater. I'll probably knit the cardigan design idea mentioned in the last post after I get my Christmas presents finished.

I'm pretty much working out my own pattern for this sweater, I'll have details on the mods upon completion.

2. Christmas Present One: Ribbed Hat

I finished this but haven't gotten an FO picture yet. Once it's blocked I'll have it on Ravelry

Super simple little hat. Knit for my brother.

3. Hat for me:

This one didn't exactly work out. But I did knit nearly an entire hat in just a few hours. Even though I was able to knit a hat this exact same size for my brother out of one skein of yarn (and had twenty yards leftover) I didn't have enough yarn to finish this hat. I'll need to go back and add a stripe of a different color or something I suppose. I may also find a bit more of this yarn in my stash box. I know I had leftovers from a couple of projects I made with it, so I'm holding out hope!

4. Fountain Pen Shawl

Technically I didn't knit on this project at all during the road trip. This is for a Christmas gift, and honestly I've been stalling on it. My deadline is shorter for this project though (mid-December) so I better get knitting!

5. Design Project FO

Preview photo ;)

Hehe, you'll have to wait a few more days for this one. I'll get some FO photos (was hoping to get some once it snows again actually) and then post details.